I'm Not Done Yet!
by Ulquiorra9000
Summary: Mina Ashido has a promise to make to herself, and her good friend Denki, after the final exam's practical test. If only they could agree on who's really the number one hero...! One-shot. Mina/Denki


**I'm Not Done Yet!**

 **by Ulquiorra9000**

"Denki, we were supposed to _win_. How could we let Principal Nezu kick us around like little kids?" Mina Ashido groaned as she and Denki shuffled back to U.A.'s campus after their botched practical exam. The setting sun normally looked really pretty around here, but Mina wasn't in a mood to appreciate it this time.

Denki sighed, his shoulders slumped. "I dunno, Mina. I dunno where he was even attacking from. Just _boom!_ and _boom!_ and we fell for it." Denki mimed the sheer destructive the principal had wielded against them with both arms. "I guess we kinda suck."

Mina sighed, too. "Yeah, I guess we do. We're the bottom two students in class A, because -"

She stopped in her tracks, hands clenched into fists at her sides. She glared down at the dirt path ahead of her.

Denki stopped, too. "Are you okay?"

"I've never been so humiliated," Mina seethed. "Not even during the sports festival! We're _not_ losers. We just..."

Denki stepped closer. "Uh... we what?"

Mina looked up and forced a smile. "We just have to try harder next time, don't we?"

Denki hesitated. "Doesn't this mean we can't go to the forest lodge with the rest of the class?"

Mina punched the air directly ahead of her. "I think so. But come on, we're just first years. There's time, trust me."

"I dunno..." Denki had a dark aura around him. "Almost all the other teams passed _their_ exams. I don't think I'm cut out for -"

"Shut up!" Mina grabbed the collar of Denki's hero uniform and lifted him an inch. "Midoriya was the worst in class, but he kept trying, and now look at him! He's crazy strong! We could be like him, too."

Denki blinked. "What the hell?"

"I'm not through trying," Mina said doggedly. "We're gonna go back to that school, and we're gonna make Aizawa-sensei proud, one way or another."

"D'you have a plan in mind?"

"Well..." Mina let Denki go and made an embarrassed giggle. "I'm not... sure yet? But we'll think of something." She set off again toward campus, arms held wide. "I'm not a quitter. Ridley Hero: Alien Queen is back in business! Woo hoo!"

"But what about a plan?" Denki jogged to catch back up, still looking pretty concerned. "Are we gonna study at Yaoyorozu's place again? I though the tea was pretty good..."

"Me too," Mina said, trying not to salivate at the thought. "Yaoyorozu is so pretty, and so smart... I wanna be more like her."

"Me too."

Mina nearly choked. "What the...?"

Denki looked mortified. "Sorry, that just slipped out. I-I mean, I should be more like... Todoroki, or Iida. Smart and cool."

"Oh, you wish," Mina said with a teasing smile.

"I can too!" Denki snapped. "Watch me!" He made a fist, and lightning crackled around it.

Mina clapped. "There it is: your fighting spirit."

"Well, if it means I can show those smug jerks what I can do..."

"Exactly!"

Denki pointed at his classmate, a cocky grin on his face. "And I'll surpass you, too! Watch your back!"

"What did you just say?!" Mina shot back. "You'll _never_ beat me, Denki. You're too dumb."

"This coming from 19th out of 20!"

" _That_ coming from 20th out of 20!"

Denki winced. "That was low, Mina..."

Mina giggled. "Oh, you're just too easy to tease, Denki."

"Come on, I'm not _that_ bad." Denki almost had a pleading note in his voice. "You saw me kick butt when those villains invaded U.S.J."

"Yeah, I remember... your face when you run out of gas."

Denki ran his hands over his face. "I've _gotta_ do something about that..."

"Well, _I_ think it's kind of cute." Mina mimed Denki's double finger-pistols move. "Look at me, zap zap! My brain's fried!"

"I don't say that!"

"Might as well."

"Yeah, well, I remember Tomoyami knocking your right on your pretty little arse during the sports festival."

Mina made a frustrated noise and held a fist just under her chin. "That birdbrain! How could he do that to me?"

"Gee, maybe he wanted to win?"

"Well, I'll get him next time!"

"Good luck."

"Was that sarcasm?"

Denki's face was enough to spill it. Mina bopped him on the head with her fist.

"Darn it, Denki! Can't you support your best friend?"

"I'm trying... ouch..." Denki winced as Mina kept bopping his head.

Mina lowered her fist and smiled broadly, hands on her hips. "Then I promise you this: I'll rise right to the top, and you'll admit I was right all along!"

Denki towered over her, a smug look on his face. "In your dreams, Mina. I'll end up as number one. You can be my sidekick, how does that sound?"

"What the hell did you say, #20?!" Mina stood on her tip-toes to match Denki's height. Why did she have to be shorter than him? "Better mind your place!"

"Wanna bet?" Denki stood on his tip-toes too, and suddenly, he had the height advantage again.

Mina made a frustrated noise and tried to stand even taller, inching closer to that pompous jerk Denki. She leaned forward, trying to scare him off. "I'll bet anything! Even my hero costume!"

"You think I want that tacky thing? It looks like a drunk painter spilled his palette all over you." Denki grinned at the modest burn.

Mina bared her teeth and leaned even closer. "And what about you? You look totally stupid in costume, Denki, wearing all black like some... uh... wannabe biker, or..."

Denki chuckled. "Nice one, Mina."

"You lousy...!" Mina shoved her face right in Denki's, and realized just how close she actually was. She inhaled the post-battle musk coming from Denki's body, saw herself reflected in his eyes, and she realized that her lips were almost touching his -

"F-forget it!" Mina scrambled back, frantically waving a hand, her heart pounding in her chest. "Forget the whole thing!"

Denki blinked. "Did you lose your nerve, Mina?" He stepped closer, looking concerned this time.

Mina took an automatic step back, her face feeling hot, her spine tingling. "I-I'm fine, Denki. Jeez. Don't smother me."

Denki stopped and let out another sigh, his hands in his pockets. "I just don't get you sometimes, Mina."

Mina put a hand over her chest and willed her heart to slow down. Which it didn't. She swallowed and tried to get the words straight. "I-in that case," she choked out, "it's on, Denki. May the best hero become the new #1! Maybe even surpass All Might!"

"Now _that_ sounds crazy."

Mina held up a finger. "Swear it, Denki: don't ever back down or get scared off, 'cause I won't, and I need a real rival to prove I'm gonna be #1."

Denki grinned. "Hey, right back at you. Give me all you've got, Ashido, or I can't prove a thing. Lame!"

"Since when did you call me Ashido?"

"Since when were you so riled up like this? You used to be so easygoing..." Denki shrugged.

Mina felt her old smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Let's just say I... I figured some things out to day. Come on, it's getting late, and we'll get locked out of the dorms at this rate."

She trotted off toward U.A. once again, and heard Denki follow behind her. Yes, she and Denki both needed to air out those pent-up thoughts, and set their sights on the top spot. She felt a rush of gratitude toward that lightning-slinger; being at the bottom of the class would be boring otherwise.

Mina hummed to herself, hands clasped behind her back, and didn't stop until she parted ways with her classmate and slipped into the girls' dorms just before the building closed.

 **The end!**


End file.
